AUTHOR=Li Fuqiang , Pang Hongli , Gao Hongshan 

TITLE=Late Pleistocene sedimentary environment reconstruction and evolution in the Houtao Plain

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1135512

DOI=10.3389/feart.2023.1135512

ISSN=2296-6463

ABSTRACT=Reconstructing the late Pleistocene sedimentary environment history of Houtao Plain has great significance not only for revealing the evolution of the Yellow River, but also for identifying the formation of paleolake and the northern Ulan Buh Desert. This paper presents the results of sedimentary facies framework based on grain size multi-parameters analysis and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 14C dating for drilling core DKZ06 with a length of 20.04 m from the Houtao Plain. Grain size multi-parameters analysis combined with the grain size of modern environmental sediments to the division of the core sedimentary facies in this area. Sedimentary facies of core DKZ06 indicate that the formation of Houtao Plain area is dominated by fluvial channel deposition and river changed by mainly frequent fluvial channel since ~35 ka. The two episodes of shallow lake deposition from drilling core, suggesting that there will not be a Mega-paleolake in the Houtao Plain, and the frequently channel migration of Yellow River may have caused a series of furiotile lakes during the late Pleistocene. The appearance of Aeolian sand at the top of core DKZ06 and combined with previous stratigraphic records from the adjacent areas indicates that the origin of the northern Ulan Buh Desert is relatively late and it formed only 2 000 years ago. We propose that a combination of the migration of the river and by the large scale human activity may be responsible for desert formation. The evolution of sedimentary environments has a close correlation with Late Pleistocene climate change. During the interglacial stage (MIS3), the sedimentary environment is mainly lacustrine and fluvial-lacustrine environment because of relatively warm-humid conditions. During the glacial stage (MIS2), the Houtao Plain was dominated by fluvial sedimentary environment because of relatively cold and dry climate. The sedimentary environment is complex and changeable during the Holocene (MIS1), which was likely linked to the frequently climate fluctuation.